Color – so many choices! I like to color with 2-steps, you choose. Brow Butter: Provides a powder like appearance with a pencil-like precision. Brow Pencil: So many colors, so little time. Brow Powder: Blond, Light Brown, Taupe

Recently we purchased a new skincare-treatment machine that has the capability to perform multiple functions. While we focus primarily on European-style facials (relaxing, hands-on, rather than machine-oriented), we value results too! Below is an explanation of some of the features and benefits you’ll experience during your next facial.

The use of low level electrical current also promotes a cleansing, antibacterial action that helps eliminate and prevent the onset of acne. The skin is left feeling energized, rosy, firm, refreshed, and noticeably softer – even after just one treatment. The enriched oxygen molecules produced by the high frequency machine are safe and are also effective in treating almost any skin lesion from acne to scars.

1. Avoid using AHA or BHA products and unprotected sun exposure at least three days before and after your treatment.

2. Do not schedule a high frequency facial if any of the following are present: pregnancy, cuts and abrasions, diabetes, heart disease or pacemaker, metal pins or plates, dental braces, sunburn, phlebitis or thrombosis, vascular conditions, or any other condition for which you are under a physician’s care.

At Star Brows we’re all about amazing eyebrow shape and design and most of us, including me, are doing what we can to get them. I’ve been using Billion Dollar Brows’ Brow Boost for the last six months to help re-grow my poor hacked-off brows and with this product’s help (and the brow magic that comes from the Brow Boss, Linda), my eyebrows are becoming what I’ve always wanted. Now a reformulation of this product boosts brow growth three times more than before!

This new and improved formula will help you get thicker, fuller brows and can be applied to your lashes too. Buy two (one for lashes and one for brows) while they’re our Monthly Feature!

The deep-conditioning treatment is designed to help strengthen and condition thin, over-tweezed brows and weak lashes. It contains three times the amount of Laminaria Digitata and Pelvetia Canaliculata Extracts, two types of seaweed found off the coast of Brittany, France that are clinically proven to help strengthen weakened hair follicles.

In honor of this new product release, we are offering Double Reward points which you can redeem for Enhancements! I don’t know about you, but I am very excited to try this out. 🙂

With over 20 years in the beauty industry, I contend that style begins with gorgeous, healthy skin. Everything else is an accessory.

So, how do you get your skin in shape for the biggest beauty day of your life?

Let’s get started.

1. Body Waxing

Perfectly smooth skin, head-to-toe, takes time but is so worth it. Waxing is fast, inexpensive, and easy but can go seriously wrong if you don’t choose a professional who has an impeccably clean and sanitary facility and experienced practices in caring for sensitive skin.

Do: To get totally smooth, you need to start waxing three months before your wedding day, then wax every three to four weeks. Keep track of how long it takes for irritation to subside after waxing and make your last appointment based on that.

Do: It is essential that you follow post-wax aftercare directions from the performing esthetician.

Don’t: Cave and shave!

2. Brows

Do: Great eyebrow design makes a look. You’ll be close up and personal with lots of folks, and your eyebrows need to help communicate beautifully and effectively. If you are trying a new eyebrow designer, make your first appointment three months before. That allows for some re-growth/reshape time.

Do: Choose a MUA that does great eyebrow makeup using pencil, powder, and gel to guarantee a perfect brow. You don’t want your brows looking fake, but you also don’t want a disappearing act.

Don’t: Do your last wax any closer than three days before the wedding date, and only that close if your skin settles down quickly post-wax, and you’ve worked with the designer before.

3. Facials

Do: If you’ve got a skincare specialist you’re working with, you’re pretty safe to do a facial or specialty treatment up to one week before. The sooner you start though, the better your skin will look. Starting at least three months early will give the best results, monthly thereafter.

Do: Your skincare specialist will recommend home-care as well. In the end, it’s what you do every day/night that will produce the best results.

Don’t: Try someone (treatment) or something (product) new that last month. The skin is so unpredictable, and the stress of the wedding planning alone will take its own toll on your skin.

4. Makeup

Do: Once you have your skin in beautiful shape, you’ll need to choose a professional MUA whose work you’ve seen. Start working with her at least a couple of weeks before the event to establish rapport and practice the exact look you want. Take pictures yourself of the look beforehand to see how it photographs.

Don’t: DIY.

5. Sun Protection

Every bit of skin that shows will need to be protected: face, neck, decollete, arms, and hands. You’re not going to see tanned skin on the real beauties, it’s damaging and aging. I can’t advise on spray-tan, but this would be my choice if I wanted my skin to look darker. Have it done professionally and try it out a month or so beforehand just in case you don’t like it.

Do: Use an SPF30 to prep the face and decollete months in advance for perfect skin. On the day-of use an oil-free SPF15 before an outdoor ceremony or pictures begin. Stay away from zinc oxide, it photographs blueish.

Don’t: Lie out in the sun less than seven days before your wedding. Newly-tanned skin may look “brown” to the naked eye, but the camera registers pigment colors differently and will likely see the “red” in your skin instead.

6. Changing Medications

Do: If you’re starting or changing ANY medications (like hormone-based birth control methods) in the last three months before your wedding, be sure to discuss with your doctor how it might impact your skin.

6. Toxic Habits Stress the Skin

Do: Drink water, eat “healthy,” exercise, and get good rest.

Don’t: Try to do everything yourself!

Below are some designers’ collections from bridal market day to show you how some of the beauties rock perfect skin, or at least the “illusion” of it, thanks to great MUAs!

CCWP member Linda Hall Ruberto, aka the Brow Boss, esthetician and owner of Star Brows in Grover Beach, is a blogger and nationally published author who recently made the cover of Skin Deep with her article, “The Beauty of Weddings.”

With spring in full bloom, it’s no wonder we’re all feeling inspired to feel fresh and look pretty! Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics’ lip products are a simple way to update your look without having to put a lot of extra effort into your appearance.

My personal favorite is the lipstick color Rosewater, the newest pink hue we carry at the spa. It’s beautiful and a happy medium between sophisticated and young. I’ve noticed a lot of brides leaning toward the softer pink tones, and this one photographs perfectly!

The Brow Boss loves to show off perfect brows with the right lip-treatment. Her top choice for the longest-wearing lip color is the Lip Pencils. The technique involves completely filling in the lips and then applying Mineral-based Lipstick or Luminous Creme Blush over the pencil. Her favorite color is Blushing Nude, a nice blend of classic and modern that can be worn for any occasion.

We both love playing around with our Youngblood lip products to customize the color for every age, comfort level, and skin tone. The possibilities are endless.

And with the Double Rewards you get for purchasing our Monthly Product Feature, you are one step closer to adding on an amazing treatment Enhancement to your next appointment while looking stunning!

Love her long, flat, close to the eye, brow-look. Want it? Use Brow Boost if you are re-growth-challenged, tint them every 3 weeks, and use Brow Gel (both by Billion Dollar Brows) to get the fly-away, natural style.